The present invention relates a device for mechanically and electrically connecting circuit boards. One board, sometimes referred to as the mother board, is the type having a plurality of openings coated with an electrically conductive material. The other board, referred to as the daughter board, has a plurality of conductive pads on the marginal portions thereof.
Contacts which are formed from an electrically conductive material have one end adapted for insertion within the cladded bores of the mother board. The other end generally includes a flat portion for contacting the pads on the daughter board which is often mounted in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the mother board.
In prior art systems, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,783,433 to Kurtz, the contacts are individually press fitted into the copper clad holes in the circuit board. With this method of construction, cantilever forces generated by insertion of the daughter board are transmitted to the cladding about the holes thus resulting in deterioration of the mechanical holding power and electrical continuity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,955 to Ward, relates to a mounting bar for holding individual electrical contacts that are arranged along the outer perimeter of the bar within notches. The notches are deformed after insertion of the contact to firmly hold the contact in place. Removal of defective contacts causes damage to the mounting bar. Hence, replacement of defective contacts with new contacts is difficult.